The killings, early on Wednesday, were a fallout of a festering land dispute between two families, which had already claimed a life earlier, in 2015.

Three members of a family were shot dead in Saran district of Bihar, over a land dispute. (Representative pic)

A group of armed men allegedly killed three persons of the same family over a land dispute at Narayanpur village under Garkha police station of Saran district of north Bihar, early on Wednesday. Three other members of family were severely injured and admitted to the sadar hospital.

The victims were identified as the head of the family, Paras Rai (80), his wife Basmatia Devi (75) and grandson Bijendra Rai. Their bodies were found in the backyard of their home, lying in a pool of blood.

As the news of the three murders spread, tension gripped the area, with villagers accusing the police of being casual in dealing with the case. No arrests had been made in connection with the killings till late afternoon on Wednesday.

This was the second incident of murder over land dispute in Bihar, on May 30. Just hours before the Saran triple murders, armed miscreants killed two youths—Nirmal Kumar, 21,and Sintoo Kumar,15—at Beldari Tola under Parasbigha police station of Jehanabad district in south Bihar.

Saran DIG Ajit Kumar Roy said that the Narayanpur incident took place at around 1am when Paras and other family members were sleeping. Some armed men barged into the house and dragged them out. A heated argument ensued and the intruders opened fire on the family members.

Three of them died on the spot while three others, namely, Rajeshwar Rai, his wife Sushila Devi and daughter Pallavi—sustained injuries.

On getting information, Saran SP Ansuiya Ransing Sahu, reached the spot with a police party. She later told HT that the bodies had been sent for post-mortem and an FIR would be lodged once the last rites of the victims were performed.

The SP said a land dispute between Paras and his cousin Anil Rai was the main reason behind the incident. “Anil’s brother also killed in 2015 and Paras’s grandson was an accused in the case. Those behind the latest killings are absconding from their homes and police have launched manhunt for them”, she added.

"The victims had expressed a threat to their lives even a couple of days earlier but the police did not take the matter seriously”, claimed a villager who was not willing to be named.